Ninjas play sports, too!
by starryskiesx
Summary: Naruto finds himself playing Soccer by himself one afternoon. When Sakura joins him, what will happen? Sport, humor, romance...sounds like the perfect setting to Naruto. NaruSaku oneshot


"hello" talking

_Hello thoughts_

_**Hellotechniques**_

"And Uzumaki takes the ball, what a great steal! He takes the ball downfield, dodges an opposing player, circles around the next one, he shoots; and oh no it was blocked by the goalie, what a let down for team Uzumaki." I glared at my clone as he held the ball cockily in his hands. "Give me that," I said taking the ball and looking back at my teammates. Sorry, Narutos, I guess I wasn't on my A-game today. They all nodded solemnly, their identical black forehead protectors flattering in the wind.

I made my clones disappear and flopped down on the grass, propping the ball on my stomach. Soccer was no fun without anybody to play with. I removed my forehead protector and wiped some sweat off my brow and let the wind blow through my hair. I was so bored...

"Hey."

The voice startled me and I turned around quickly. I smiled. "Sakura-chan, you scared me."

Sakura laughed and sat down next to me. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing really. I was playing soccer, but it's no fun playing with just my clones."

Sakura tipped her head to the side and looked at me in interest. "You play with your clones?"

I shrugged. "Sure. They're company, I guess."

"Could I play? I don't really have anything to do."

I beamed. "Really? Well sure!" Sakura giggled and stood up, picking up the ball and bouncing it on her forehead.

"See, this is where having a wide forehead becomes useful."

"Sakura-chan, stop saying that you have a big forehead," I said gently.

"Oh just shut up and play."

I grinned and got up, tying my forehead protector around my head as I did so. "Ok, ok. No need to get impatient. But first, let's make this more interesting." I prought my fingers together in a cross. "**Kage Bunshin no Jutso!" **Ten of my clones appeared, five on my side, five on hers. **"Renge,"** I said, and the five that were behind Sakura turned into copies of her.

Sakura examined them closely. "Nice work," she said. "Tie your forehead protector around your arm so we know who the real one is." I nodded and did as she told me to do. "You ready to get your butt kicked?"

"Pft. Team Uzumaki can totally beat team Haruno."

"We'll see about that. Now cut the chit-chat and play already!" I put my game face on as Sakura put the ball down between us. Before I even had time to react, Sakura had whisked right past me, dribbling the ball down the field. _Damn, she's fast._ One of my clones ran towards her and tried to take the ball away, but Sakura passed it to her teammate, who passed it back to her. I tore down the field, passing her clones, and watched as she flew past the other three clones.

She was close to my goalie now, but I was gaining on her. And so were my clones. "Guys! Time for Uzumaki Naruto soccer combo!" They all nodded and sprinted to catch up to her.

"U-" the first said, sliding on the ground towards her.

"zu-" the second yelled, sliding from the other direction. Sakura looked around her, slowing down in confusion. The two clones' feet met at the ball, catapulting it into the air.

"ma-" a third clone flew into the air and kicked the ball downfield.

"ki-" my fourth clone kicked the ball further down to the field to where I was waiting close to the goal.

"Naruto soccer combo!" I yelled and bicycle-kicked the ball into the goal. Sakura's goal keeper dived for the ball, but it slipped through her fingertips. "Yes! And the crowd goes wild! GOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!!" I yelled and pulled my t-shirt up over my head, running around with my arms outstretched. I was suddenly stopped forcefully. I pulled my shirt down to see Sakura glaring at me.

"No need to get cocky, Naruto." She grinned devilishly. "Besides, this game has only just begun." She raised her eyebrows and I swallowed nervously. Who knew what Sakura could do with a soccer ball? "Sakuras, assemble!"

"Hai!" the other Sakuras said in unison. I watched in curiosity as they huddled together, forming a circle. A couple of minutes later, they broke up, serious faces on.

"You done?" I said, fake yawning.

"Bring it."

I chuckled. Sakura never ceased to intrigue me. I put the ball down in front of Sakura.

"Ladies first."

"Shouldn't you be going then?" she teased.

"Ha, ha, ha. We got the point anyway, so it's your ball." She smirked at me and placed the ball between her feet.

"Go!" she yelled and flipped the ball up in the air and kicked it to a teammate behind her. The teammate head butted it to another clone. I ran to the clone, who quickly headbutted it do another clone, who passed it to another.

"Defense!" I yelled. Three of my clones charged at the Sakura clone, but were too late as she had already head butted it to the real Sakura.

"Sakura giant forehead combo!" she yelled and head butted it into the goal.

"Neoooooooooooooo!" I yelled dramatically as my goalie was hit in the stomach with the ball. He disappeared in a puff of smoke and the ball went in.

"Yes!" Sakura yelled punching the air. I rubbed my stomach and winced, imagining how that must have felt. I quickly made another clone appear, who took up the goalie position.

"First to five?"

"You're on."

Forty-five minutes later, we both stood with our hands on our knees, panting heavily and looking at each other intensley. The score was 4—4, and I had no intentions of losing. I swallowed hard and picked up the ball.

I placed it on the ground and kicked it to a clone; he dribbled it up the field, but was tackled by a Sakura. She tried to kick the ball to a teammate, but I jumped in front of her and bumped the ball lightly on my chest, setting the ball onto the ground and then dribbling it towards the goal.

The real Sakura ran towards me, a mad glint in her eye. I swallowed and kept on running. I tried to turn to the left, but Sakura met me head on. She kicked violently at the ball, which caused me to trip and land on my face. I instinctively reached out for her, pulling her down with me, and we landed in a mass of flailing limbs.

I quickly looked back up to the game. A Sakura clone had the ball and was covering ground rapidly.

"Go, Sakura, go!" Sakura yelled on the ground next to me. I watched helplessly as she kicked into the goal and scored. "Ha!" Sakura yelled with glee. "We win! In your face Uzumaki!"

I sighed heavily and made the clones disappear. "You win, Sakura-chan…but I _was_ going easy on you. Now if I had been playing at my best, you would have had no chance."

"You want a rematch, then?"

"No! I mean…no. I wouldn't want to hurt your feelings is all," I said and shifted my eyes.

Sakura laughed at my pathetic excuse. She paused and looked at me, a grin forming on her lips. "Do you want a chance to win your pride back?"

"Ok."

She grinned and walked over to the tree line at the edge of the forest. She stripped some bark from a tree, pulled out a kunai and her hands disappeared as she made a flurry of motions around the bark. She walked over to the middle of the soccer field.

"Well, stand up, we haven't got all day!" I smiled and removed my jacket, casting it aside onto the grass. I looked into her hands and saw she was holding a disc of some sorts. "You ready?" she yelled. Without waiting for an answer, she flung the disc high above my head. I looked at it in confusion as it curved…and headed straight to my face.

"Ah!" I yelled as the disc slammed heavily into my nose. I clutched my nose in pain as stars appeared at the sides of my vision. "What the hell? What is this thing, a flying disc of death?!" I shouted at Sakura who was on the other side of the field.

"It's a Frisbee," she shouted back. "You're supposed to throw it."

"I knew that!" I gripped the Frisbee and looked at it with interest. _Looks easy enough. You just throw it, right? _Wrong. I threw the Frisbee as I hard as I could, only to have it go in the completely wrong direction I wanted it to go. Sakura ran to the other side of the field, ran, jumped, and caught it. I looked on in awe.

"You need some help?" Sakura laughed.

"That would be much appreciated." Sakura chuckled and made her way over to me.

"Here," she said and showed me how to hold the contraption. "You just wrap your fingers around it like this, keep the Frisbee flat, extend your arm and flick out your wrist," she said, showing the motion as she did so.

"Ah, I see." She handed me the Frisbee and I gripped it tightly.

"No, no, not so tight." She put her hand on mine and loosened my fingers. I looked at her hand on mine. _Sakura-chan is actually touching me!_ It was all I could do to stop a goofy grin from spreading across my face. "Hey! Are you getting what I'm saying?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, got it."

"Good. Now give it a go. Try to hit that tree over there," she said and threw a kunai at a tree, hitting it square on. I aimed the Frisbee for it and let it fly. It wobbled in the air and hit a tree that was about six away from my target.

"Ngh," I grumbled.

"It's ok," Sakura said. "Just try again." I looked expectantly at her. "Well go get it!" I frowned and jogged off into the woods

After a while I had mastered the Frisbee…almost.

"I think you're ready to take me on," Sakura said with a proud smile.

"Yes! I'm ready, Sakura-chan!" Sakura laughed at my enthusiasm and jogged to the other side of the field with the Frisbee. The first few passes were calm and slow, but as we moved on, the passes became faster and more angled. I threw a fast one at her and she caught it, spinning on her heel.

A mischievous grin appeared on her face. She threw the Frisbee forcefully in my direction. Shit, it was a high one. I wouldn't be able to reach it. "**Kage Bunshin no Justu!"** A clone popped out and grabbed my arm. He spun me around several times, building up speed and launched me into the air. I zoomed towards the Frisbee and outstretched my arms to it. I grinned with success as my finger touched the wood. I tucked it to my stomach and flipped over, planting my feet firmly to the ground.

I smiled victoriously at Sakura. _Two can play at that game. _I threw a high one to Sakura. It flew several feet over her head. She let out a yell and punched the ground forcefully, sending earth into the air. She sailed up on one column of earth, and jumped up to catch the Frisbee. She threw it sharply back to me as she flew to the ground.

Surprised, I dived to catch it and grunted as it hit me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me. I planted one hand onto the ground and flipped upright.

I grinned. Sakura looked pretty pissed that I had caught that. I had a plan that would secure a win for me. I held the Frisbee between both of my hands and infused my chakra into it. I pushed some more into it until the Frisbee had a glowing blue glow around it.

I released the Frisbee, sending it whizzing along its path. It did a big loop around Sakura and she snatched at it wildly, but the disc flew away and landed onto the ground. I placed my hands on my hips and Sakura looked at me, her mouth open. I ran over to her.

"I'll take my pride back, thanks."

"Beginner's luck. That last shot was amazing, though." I blushed and shrugged. I breathed out a sigh and wiped the sweat from my brow. The glistening water from the river trickled by, making the most inviting sound I'd ever heard.

"I'm going to go for a swim," I said and ran down to the river bank, Sakura behind me. I dipped my toes in the water, sighing with pleasure as the water cooled my feet. Not able to stand it any longer, I stripped down to my boxers and jumped in, swimming a few strokes then floating on top of the water. "Ah, the water's nice, isn't it, Sakura-chan?" No answer came. "Huh? Sakura-chan?"

I looked up at Sakura to see that Sakura was sitting on a rock on the water bank, her feet dangling in the water. "Sakura-chan?" I followed her gaze to my stomach. The seal on my stomach, to be precise.

She shook her head. "Sorry, Naruto. It's just that I've never seen it before…not this close anyway."

I swam up to where she was sitting and lifted myself out of the water and sat next to where she was sitting. I looked deeply into her eyes. "Would you like to touch it?" I asked in a low voice. Sakura blushed furiously, but I lay on my back anyway, my legs still half in the water.

I closed my eyes due to the sun and suddenly felt the tip on Sakura's fingertip brush my skin. An involuntary shiver made its way up my body. Sakura quickly pulled her hand back. "Sorry."

"No, no. It's ok." I opened my eyes and looked at her reassuringly. She bit her lip and put her hand back on my stomach. She slowly traced the design, her eyes widening as she did so. Her lips parted slightly and she let out a silent gasp. She finished the circle and looked back at me. I propped myself on my elbows and smiled at her. She lay down next to me and looked into my eyes.

"What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"You know…having that thing inside of you."

I thought for a moment. "At first I hated it. People always thought of me as 'the nine-tailed-fox kid', and never just as Naruto. But since then I've grown to accept it." I shrugged conclusively and threw a pebble into the river. I looked back to Sakura who was looking sadly at me. "Sakura," I said firmly. "I'm still Naruto. Just Naruto. Having this seal doesn't change anything. Of course, there might be the occasion where I go all red and glowy, but I'm still Naruto. Your Naruto."

"My Naruto," she said and buried her head into my neck. I felt her hot breath on my bare shoulder and she kissed it softly.

"Sakura-chan…" I lifted her chin so she would look at me. I tucked a stray pink hair behind her ear and wrapped my arms around her, pressing our bodies closer. She stroked my jaw line and traced my lips. I slowly brought my head closer to hers, and she did the same. When our lips met, it was soft and sincere. Everything a kiss should be.

We pulled away slowly and Sakura hugged me, planting small kisses on the back of my neck. I slowly slipped into the water, pulling Sakura in with me. We were in the middle of the river when Sakura noticed.

"Naruto!" she gasped in surprise. "My clothes!"

I shrugged playfully. "Sakura-chan, you _do _have five more of the same outfit."

"But- oh. Yeah, you're right." She blushed and broke away from my hold and swam around me. She swam back into my arms with her back facing my chest and rested my head against the shoulder. "I'm glad I played with you today."

"Me too," I said, reaching for her, trying for another kiss.

"Aye!" A voice made me jerk my head in the direction of the sound, before I had enclosed on her. I saw Kiba and his ever present Akamaru on the soccer field. With his was Neji, Lee, and Ten-Ten. "Naruto! Sakura!" Kiba called, waving. "Get your butts over here and play!"

I looked at Sakura. "You wanna go?"

"Sure."

"Wait up, guys!" As we climbed out of the river and I put my shirt back on, I remembered Sakura's brutal playing skills. I called back to Kiba, "Just as long as I'm on Sakura's team!"

**I couldn't resist writing that. As soon as I had the idea I was like "GAH", sat down, and typed for the rest for the afternoon. I hope you liked it!**

**Laura**


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